Florida high school employee complains about Bible verse on coworker’s parking space
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Florida Jewish high school worker complains about ‘offensive’ New Testament Bible verse painted in coworker’s parking lot: District says teachers are free to express themselves as they please
- Marina Gentilesco, who is Jewish, works as a teaching assistant at Wiregrass Ranch High School in Pasco County, Florida
- Gentilesco Says A Bible Verse Painted In The Parking Lot Makes Her Angry Every Time She Sees It And Asks To Remove It
- The headmaster consulted the district and stated that teachers were free to express themselves as they wished
- The verse reads in full: ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’
A Florida high school employee complained about a coworker’s parking lot with a Bible verse written on it.
Marina Gentilesco, who is Jewish and works as a teaching assistant at Wiregrass Ranch High School in Pasco County, Florida, says the verse makes her angry every time she sees it.
The New Testament Bible passage, Philippians 4:13, painted on the spot, seems innocent enough, simply mentioning the inspiring line, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
But Gentilesco, whose parents survived the Holocaust, said she took offense at the passage.
Marina Gentilesco, who is Jewish and works as a teaching assistant at Wiregrass Ranch High School in Pasco County, Florida, says a Bible verse makes her angry every time she sees it
Thus the Bible verse appears on the asphalt of the parking lot near the school. It says in full: ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’
“I feel like it attacks me as a Jew,” Gentilesco said Fox 59. “It brings me to the brink of tears, because it brings me back to the six million who have died because of our faith – because we are Jews.”
Gentilesco notes that she thinks the phrase fits the grounds of a church better than that of a school.
“You put it on a state-funded lot.” I don’t like it,” she said.
Gentilesco went to the principal of the school, who then inquired with the school district.
The verse in the parking lot is Philippians 4:13, pictured here marked in a Bible
The painted couplet can be seen under a black pickup
Pasco County Schools has since stated that it will not remove the Bible verse
Pasco County Schools has since stated that it will not remove the Bible verse.
“It’s not a violation. This is a personal statement,” explains Stephen Hegarty, Pasco County Schools Public Information Officer.
“There is no conversion going on. It doesn’t force students to do anything in any way,” Hegarty added.
He also noted that it had nothing to do with what was taught in school.
‘It has nothing to do with instruction. It’s just a teacher expressing themselves, just like they’re wearing a crucifix on their shirt. Teachers and students are free to express themselves,” he said.
“There is no conversion going on. It doesn’t force students to do anything in any way,” Stephen Hegarty, Pasco County Schools Public Information Officer
Teachers at the school have been told they are free to express themselves as they please